She said: “The brightly coloured pack displays we used to have in shops disappeared completely in 2015 and the packs they do see nowadays are a sludgy green colour, with large picture warnings, rather than the brightly coloured, highly branded packs we used to have.

“Is it any wonder young people today increasingly choose not to smoke?

“It’s much less cool than it used to be.”

This has been helped by the rise of e-cigarettes.

The Office for National Statistics estimates there are 2.8 million vapers in Britain, and almost half said their reason for taking it up was to stop smoking.

Ms Arnott continued: “Smoking rates have fallen because, over the last 20 years, the Government has gone further and faster in tackling smoking.

“But smoking must become history for all of society not just for the wealthy.

“Cuts in public health funding and lack of treatment for smoking on the NHS mean poorer more heavily addicted smokers, including those who are pregnant, are not getting the help they need to quit.”

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, commented: “Smoking rates have dropped by almost a quarter in five years, a triumphant step in eliminating the nation’s biggest killer.

“The data shows we are winning the war on tobacco and that we are tantalisingly close to creating the first-ever smoke-free generation in England.

“But that war will only be won if we make more progress in helping people from deprived areas and people suffering from poor mental health, where we know smoking rates remain stubbornly high.”

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